This most unusual surname is almost certainly of Saxon origins. It derives from the German word 'Sattel' and describes a maker or merchant of saddles and harness. The more usual surname is of course 'Saddle' or 'Saddler', and these derive from the Olde English 'sadol'. It is possible that 'Sate' is a Flemish Weaver 14th century introduction, and that it was never used as a job descriptive name in England. In other words, the name having been already held before its arrival in England, but this is conjecture. There is also a possibility that 'Sate' is an East of England dialectal form of 'Salt', a word which described either a salt-maker or salt merchant, or sometimes a former inhabitant of the village of 'Salt' in Cheshire. The surname is most widely recorded in London, and as 'Saatts' is one of the very first of all church recordings found after 'The Reformation' instituted by King Henry V111 in 1535-1540. Despite its early recordings, the name has always been rare, a further indication that its origins lie overseas. Recordings have been found in the Province of Rheinland in 1732. This is much later than England, mainly because most German early records have ben destroyed in war. Examples of the recordings include Sara Sate, christened at St Dunstans Church, Stepney, on October 7th 1658, Hannah Sate, who married John Wilcock at St Pauls Church, Lincoln, on June 30th 1751, and Mary Sate, who married Samuel Woolley, at St James Church, Westminster on October 12th 1775. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Agnes Saatts, which was dated April 22nd 1543, married Thomas Clyfton at St Margarets, Westminster, during the reign of King Henry V111, known as 'Bluff King Hal', 1510 - 1547. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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